Just weeks after the high-profile launch of Startup India, the Centre is looking at rolling out yet another major initiative, dubbed ZED.

Just weeks after the high-profile launch of Startup India, the Centre is looking at rolling out yet another major initiative, dubbed ZED.

NEW DELHI: Just weeks after the high-profile launch of Startup India, the Centre is looking at rolling out yet another major initiative, dubbed ZED, which was first mentioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 2014 Independence Day speech and yet again last week. The acronym stands for zero defect, zero effect (on the environment) — high quality manufacturing that’s also green.

Expected to be launched in March, the programme is to be widely discussed at Make in India week next month. Officials said the initiative is meant to raise quality levels in the unregulated micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, the engine of growth for the Indian economy, driving almost 38% of the nation's GDP and employing 110 million Indians. It’s thereby seen as a cornerstone of the flagship Make in India programme, which is aimed at turning India into a global manufacturing hub, generating jobs, lifting incomes and boosting growth.

Officials said ZED will handhold MSMEs across the country in all Make in India sectors, through government-constituted quality control cells, which will also rate them, depending on yearly assessments of their products. Under the rollout plan, as detailed by officials, the focus states that will drive ZED initially are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka, which account for 57% of total MSME employment and 59% of the sector’s exports.

With the pilot driven by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary Amitabh Kant and the main scheme led by MSME secretary Anup Pujari, the Centre has roped in Quality Council of India (QCI) for executing the plan and drafted a standard template for assessing enterprises.

“ZED will be for MSMEs what Startup India is for startups,” QCI chairman Adil Zainulbhai said. “After all, an MSME is a startup. Even the person who opens a pharmacy is an entrepreneur and must be supported and encouraged.” QCI was set up jointly by the government and Indian industry to establish and operate a national accreditation structure and promote standards through the National Quality Campaign.

In his August 2014 speech, Modi had said ZED would primarily look at “making our product which has ‘zero defect’ so that it does not come back (get rejected) from the world market and ‘zero effect’ so that the manufacturing does not have an adverse effect on our environment.”

Officials said the ZED project was conceptualized in September 2014, immediately after which QCI prepared the first draft of the model. The pilot was launched the next year with selected enterprises going through the entire ZED process.

“The online self-assessment link was activated in July, after which detailed self-assessment reports were sent to 126 companies,” an official said, adding that 40 awareness workshops have been conducted in 30 cities across India. In addition, 10 ZED cells that will implement the programme have been launched.

After studying the maturity assessment model to assess, rate and handhold the Indian industry based on quality and environment parameters put together by the QCI, the Centre is now ready for the national rollout, officials said. The initial focus sectors for the programme will be units in food products and beverages, textiles, fabricated metals products, chemicals and wearing apparel. Depending on the assessment, the units will be awarded ratings of bronze, silver, gold, diamond and platinum. A ZED platinum rating implies the manufacturer is of international standard and follows global best practices, they said.

The Centre is in talks with companies such as Tata Steel, TAFE and Tata Motors, as well as industry groupings Confederation of Indian Industry and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India and ecommerce companies like Flipkart and Snapdeal to popularise the scheme among vendors and dealers.

Academic institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology at Kanpur and Delhi are also likely to function as ZED cells across the country. As of now, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Chemicals, Ashok Leyland, Indian Industries Association (Uttar Pradesh), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, National Institution for Quality & Reliability, Chennai, PEC University, Chandigarh, Chitkara University, Thiagarajar University and Amity University are already on board to promote the programme, officials said.

Depending on the sectors they belong to, the enterprises will be assessed on quality and environment factors that include process automation, process capability, design, safety and hygiene issues, waste management, defect rate and people management, an official said.